
> 



^r 






■ A 



*•* 




THE 

CULPRIT 




By JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE 



ILLUSTRATED BY 

HUGH fc? MARGARET EATON 

PUBLISHED 

BY 



The Palisades Press, 



PALISADES 
NEW YORK 



V 

^ 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies ReceW«d 

DEC 12 1903 

Copyright Entry 
CLASS *s XXo. N©, 

n u. *- <>[ + 

COPY A. 



COPYRIGHT. 1903 
By MABEL CHILDE SMITH 



PALISADES PRESS 

PALISADES 

N. Y. 















•'pis the middle watch of a summer 

night — 
The earth is dark, but the heavens are 

bright ; 
Naught is seen in the vault on high 
But the moon, and the stars, and the 

cloudless sky, 
And the flood which rolls its milky 

hue, 
A river of light on the welkin blue* 



- ••ll'iMlMWM'i 










The moon looks down on old Cronest, 
She mellows the shades on his shaggy 

breast. 
And seems his huge gray form to throw 
In a silver cone on the wave below; 
His sides are broken by spots of shade, 
By the walnut bough and the cedar 

made, 
And through their clustering branches 

dark 
Glimmers and dies the fire-fly's spark — 
Like starry twinkles that momently 

break 
Through the rifts of the gathering 

tempest's rack* 



The stars are on the moving stream, 
And fling, as its ripples gently flow, 

A burnished length of wavy beam 
In an eel-like, spiral line below ; 

".--.-.■'-. .-zr. 











The winds are whist, and the owl is 
still, 
The bat in the shelvy rock is hid ; 
And. naught is heard on the lonely hill 
But the cricket's chirp, and the answer 
shrill 
Of the gauze- winged katydid ; 
And the plaint of the wailing whip- 

poorwill, 
Who moans unseen, and ceaseless 
sings, 
Ever a note of wail and woe, 
Till morning spreads her rosy wings, 
And earth and sky in her glances 
glow* 



%$> ' 




/ 





















A 



'Tis the hour of fairy ban and spell. 
The wood-tick has kept the minutes 

well; 
He has counted them all with click 

and stroke 
Deep in the heart 

of the mountain-oak, 
And he has awakened 

the sentry elve 
Who sleeps with him 
in the haunted tree, 





To bicy^^lg^a^^ 

Aj#call mi fays to their revel: . 
Twelve small strokes on his tinklm^ 
# bell- 3g 

('Twas made of the white snail's^ 

pearly shell) ; J^Qlh 



%* 



Midnight comes, and all is well ! 
Hither, hither, wing your way ! 
'Tis the dawn of the fairy day. 




They come from beds of lichen green, 
They creep from the mullen's velvet 

screen ; 
Some on the backs of beetles fly 
From the silver tops of moon-touched 

trees, 
Where they swung in their cobweb 

hammocks high, 
And rocked about in the evening 

breeze; 
Some from the humbird's downy nest — 





They had driven him out by elfin 
power, 
And, pillowed on plumes of his rain- 
bow breast, 
Had slumbered there till the charmed 
hour; 
Some had lain in the scoop of the rock, 

With glittering ising-stars inlaid ; 
And some had opened the four-o'clock, 

And stole within its purple shade* 
And now they throng the moonlight 
glade, 
Above — below — on every side, 
Their little minim forms arrayed 
In the tricksy pomp of fairy prid 





They come not now to print the lea, 
In freak and dance around the tree, 
Or at the mushroom board to sup, 
And drink the dew from the butter- 
cup;— 
A scene of sorrow waits them now, 
For an Ouphe has broken his vestal 

vow; 
He has loved an earthly maid, 
^nd left for her his woodland shade ; 




He has lain upon her lip of dew, 
And sunned him in her eye of blue, 
Fanned her cheek with his wing of air, 
Played in the ringlets of her hair, 
And, nestling on her snowy breast, 
Forgot the lily-king's behest* 
For this the shadowy tribes of air 

To the elfin court must haste away; — 
And now they stand expectant there, 

To hear the doom of the culprit Fay, 





The throne was reared upon the grass, 
Of spice- wood and of sassafras ; 
On pillars of mottled tortoise-shell 
Hung the burnished canopy — 
And over it gorgeous curtains fell 

Of the tulip's crimson drapery. 
The monarch sat on his judgment-seat, 
On his brow the crown imperial 
shone* 
The prisoner Fay was at his feet, 
And his peers were ranged around 
the throne* 
He waved his sceptre in the air, 

He looked around and calmly spoke; 
His brow was grave and his eye 
severe, 
But his voice in a softened accent 
broke : 




" Fairy ! fairy list and mark : 
Thou hast broke thine elfin chain ; 
Thy flame- wood lamp is quenched and 
dark, 
And thy wings are dyed with a 
deadly stain— 
Thou hast sullied thine elfin purity 
In the glance of a mortal maiden's 
eye, 
Thou hast scorned our dread decree, 
And thou shouldst pay the forfeit 
high. 
But well I know her sinless mind 
Is pure as the angel forms above, 
Gentle and meek, and chaste and 
kind, 
Such as a spirit well might love ; 




Fairy ! had she spot or taint, 
Bitter had been thy punishment* 
Tied to the hornet's shardy wings ; 
Tossed on the pricks of nettle's stings ; 
Or seven long ages doomed to dwell 
With the lazy worm in the walnut- 
shell ; 
Or every night to writhe and bleed 
Beneath the tread of the centipede; 
Or bound in a cobweb dungeon dim, 
Your jailer a spider huge and grim, 
Amid the carrion bodies to lie, 
Of the worm, and the bug, and the 

murdered fly : 
These it had been your lot to bear, 
Had a stain been found on the earthly 

fain 
Now list, and mark our mild decree 
Fairy, this your doom must be : 





44 Thou shalt seek the beach of sand 
Where the water bounds the elfin land ; 
Thou shalt watch the oozy brine 
Till the sturgeon leaps in the bright 

moonshine* 

Then dart the glistening arch below* 

And catch a drop from his silver bow* 

The water-sprites will wield their arms 

And dash around* and roar and 

rave* 
And vain are the woodland spirits* 

charms* 
They are the imps that rule the 

wave* 
Yet trust thee in thy single might : 
If thy heart be pure and thy spirit 

right* 
Thou shalt win the 

warlock fight* 





" If the spray-bead gem be won, 
The stain of thy wing is washed 

away: 
But another errand must be done 
Ere thy crime be lost for aye ; 
Thy flame- wood lamp is quenched and 

dark, 
Thou must reillume its spark. 
Mount thy steed and spur him higl 
To the heaven's blue canopy ; 
And when thou see'st a shooting-star, 
Follow it fast, and follow it far — 
The last faint spark of its burning 

train 
Shall light the elfin lamp again. 
Thou hast heard our sentence, Fay ; 
Hence ! to the water-side, away ! " 





The goblin marked his monarch well; 

He spake not, but he bowed him low, 
Then plucked a crimson colen-bell, 

And turned him round in act to go. 
The way is long, he cannot fly, 

His soiled wing has lost its power, 
And he winds adown the mountain 
high, 

For many a sore and weary hour* 
Through dreary beds of tangled fern, 
Through groves of night-shade dark 

and dern, 
Over the grass and through the brake, 
Where toils the ant and sleeps the 
snake; 





Now over the violet's azure flush 

He skips along in lightsome mood; 

And now he thrids the bramble-bush, 

Till its points are dyed in fairy 

blood* 
He has leaped the bog, he has pierced 

the brier, 
He has swum the brook, and waded 

the mire, 
Till his spirits sank, and his limbs 

grew weak, 
And the red waxed fainter in his 

cheek. 
He had fallen to the ground outright, 
For rugged and dim was his onward 

track, 



But there came a spotted toad in sight, 
And he laughed as he jumped upon 

her back: 
He bridled her mouth with a silkweed 

twist, 
He lashed her sides with an osier 

thong; 
And now, through evening's dewy 

mist, 
With leap and spring they bound 

along, 
Till the mountain's magic verge is 

past, 
And the beach of sand is reached at 

last* 




Soft and pale is the moony beam, 
Moveless still the glassy stream; 
The wave is clear, the beach is bright 
With snowy shells and sparkling 

stones ; 
The shore-surge comes in ripples 

light, 
In murmurings faint and distant 

moans ; 
And ever afar in the silence deep 
Is heard the splash of the sturgeon's 

leap, 
And the bend of his graceful bow is 

seen — 
A glittering arch of silver sheen, 
Spanning the wave of burnished blue, 
And dripping with gems of the river 

dew* 





The elfin cast a glance around, 

As he lighted down from his courser 
toad, 
Then round his breast his wings he 
wound, 
And close to the river's brink he 
strode ; 



He sprang on a rock, he breathed a 
prayer, 
Above his head his arms he 
threw, 
Then tossed a tiny curve in air, 
And headlong plunged in the waters 
blue* 





Up sprung the spirits of the waves, 
From the sea-silk beds in their coral 

caves t 
With snail-plate armor snatched in 

haste, 
They speed their way through the 

liquid waste; 
Some are rapidly borne along 
On the mailed shrimp or the prickly 

prong, 
Some on the blood-red leeches glide, 
Some on the stony starfish ride, 
Some on the back of the lancing squab, 
Some on the sideling soldier crab; 
And some on the jellied quarl, that 

flings 
At once a thousand streamy stings; 
They cut the wave with the living oar, 
And hurry on to the moonlight shore, 
To guard their realms and chase away; 
The footsteps of the invading Fay* 








Fearlessly he skims along. 

His hope is high, and his limbs are 

strong, 
He spreads his arms like the swallow's 

wing, 
And throws his feet with a frog-like 

fling; 
His locks of gold on the waters shine, 
At his breast the tiny foam-beads rise, 
His back gleams bright above the 

brine, 
And the wake-line foam behind him 

lies. 
But the water-sprites are gathering 

near 
To check his course along the tide; 







Their warriors come in swift career 

And hem him round on every side ; 
On his thigh the leech has fixed his 

hold, 
The quart's long arms are round him 

rolled, 
The prickly prong has pierced his skin, 
And the squab has thrown his javelin, 
The gritty star has rubbed him raw, 
And the crab has struck with his giant 

claw; 
He howls with rage, and he shrieks 

with pain, 
He strikes around, but his blows are 

vain; 
Hopeless is the unequal fight, 
Fairy ! naught is left but flight, 

* 








He turned him round, and fled amain 
With hurry and dash to the beach 

again, 
He twisted over from side to side, 
And laid his cheek to the cleaving tide ; 
The strokes of his plunging arms are 

fleet, 
And with all his might he flings his feet, 
But the water-sprites are round him still, 
To cross his path and work him ill. 
They bade the wave before him rise; 
They flung the sea-fire in his eyes, 
And they stunned his ears with the 

scallop-stroke, 
With the porpoise heave and the drum- 
fish croak* 
Oh ! but a weary wight was he 
When he reached the foot of the dog- 
wood tree* 
— Gashed and wounded, and stiff and 

sore, 
He laid him down on the sandy shore ; 




He blessed the force of the charmed 

line, 
And he banned the water-goblin's spite, 
For he saw around in the sweet moon- 
shine 
Their little wee faces above the brine, 
Giggling and laughing with all their 

might 
At the piteous hap of the Fairy wight* 




Soon he gathered the balsam dew 
From the sorrel-leaf and the henbane 

bud; 
Over each wound the balm he drew, 
And with cobweb lint he stanched 

the blood* 
The mild west wind was soft and low, 
It cooled the heat of his burning brow, 
And he felt new life in his sinews shoot, 
As he drank the juice of the calamus 

root; 
And now he treads the fatal shore, 
As fresh and vigorous as before* 





Wrapped in musing stands the sprite 
'Tis the middle wane of night ; 
His task is hard, his way is far. 

But he must do his errand right 
Ere dawning mounts her beamy car, 

And rolls her chariot wheels of light 
And vain are the spells of fairy land 
He must work with a human hand* 




He cast a saddened look around, 
But he felt new joy his bosom swell, 

When, glittering on the shadowed 
ground, 
He saw a purple mussel-shell; 





Thither he ran, and he bent him low, 

He heaved at the stern and he heaved 
at the bow, 

And he pushed her over the yielding 
sand, 

Till he came to the verge of the 
haunted land* 

She was as lovely a pleasure-boat 
As ever fairy had paddled in, 

For she glowed with purple paint with 
out, 
And shone with silvery pearl within ; 

A sculler's notch in the stern he made, 

An oar he shaped of the bootle-blade ; 

Then sprung to his seat with a light- 
some leap, 

And launched afar on the calm, blue 
deep. 



The imps of the river yell and rave ; 

They had no power above the wave, 

But they heaved the billow before the 
prow, 

And they dashed the surge against her 
side, 

And they struck her keel with jerk 
and blow, 
Till the gunwale bent to the rock- 
ing tide* 

She wimpled about to the pale moon- 
beam, 

Like a feather that floats on a wind- 
tossed stream ; 

And momently athwart her track, 

The quarl upreared his island back, 

And the fluttering scallop behind would 
float, 

And patter the water about the boat; 

But he bailed her out with his colen- 
bell, 



And he kept her trimmed with a 
wary tread, 
While on every side like lightning fell 
The heavy strokes of his bootle-blade* 



Onward still he held his way, 

Till he came where the column of 

moonshine lay, 
And saw beneath the surface dim 
The brown-backed sturgeon slowly 

swim; 
Around him were the goblin train — 
But he sculled with all his might and 

main, 
And followed wherever the sturgeon 

led, 
Till he saw him upward point his head ; 
Then he dropped his paddle-blade, 
And held his colen goblet up 
To catch the drop in its crimson cup* 








With sweeping tail and quivering fin, 
Through the wave the sturgeon flew, 
And, like the heaven-shot javelin, 

He sprung above the waters blue. 
Instant as the star-fall light 

He plunged him in the deep again, 
But left an arch of silver bright, 

The rainbow of the moony main. 
It was a strange and lovely sight 

To see the puny goblin there ; 
He seemed an angel form of light, 

With azure wing and sunny hair, 
Throned on a cloud of purple fair, 
Circled with blue and edged with 

white, 
And sitting at the fall of even 
Beneath the bow of summer heaven. 




A moment, and its lustre fell; 

But ere it met the billow blue, 
He caught within his crimson bell 

A droplet of its sparkling dew — 
Joy to thee, Fay ! thy task is done, 
Thy wings are pure, for the gem is 

won — 
Cheerily ply thy dripping oar, 
And haste away to the elfin shore* 




He turns, and lo ! on either side 

The ripples on his path divide ; 

And the track o'er which his boat must 

pass 
Is smooth as a sheet of polished glass* 



Around, their limbs the sea-nymphs 
lave, 
With snowy arms half swelling out, 
While on the glossed and gleamy wave 
Their sea-green ringlets loosely float ; 
They swim around with smile and 
song, 
They press the bark with pearly 
hand, 
And gently urge her course along, 

Toward the beach of speckled sand ; 
And, as he lightly leaped to land, 

They bade adieu with nod and bow, 
Then gayly kissed each little hand, 
And dropped in the crystal deep 
below* 





A moment stayed the fairy there ; 
He kissed the beach and breathed a 

prayer ; 
Then spread his wings of gilded blue, 
And on to the elfin court he flew ; 
As ever ye saw a bubble rise, 
And shine with a thousand changing 

dyes, 
Till, lessening far, through ether 

driven, 
It mingles with the hues of heaven ; 
As, at the glimpse of morning pale, 
The lance-fly spreads his silken sail, 
And gleams with blendings soft and 

bright, 
Till lost in the shades of fading night ; 
So rose from earth the lovely Fay — 
So vanished, far in heaven away ! 
•^ J> J> J> j> 

Up, Fairy ! quit thy chick weed bower, 
The cricket has called the second hour, 
Twice again, and the lark will rise 
To kiss the streaking of the skies — 
Up ! thy charmed armor don, 
Thou'lt need it ere the night be gone* 




He put his acorn helmet on; 

It was plumed of the silk of the thistle- 
down; 

The corslet plate that guarded his 
breast 

Was once the wild bee's golden vest ; 

His cloak, of a thousand mingled dyes 

Was formed of the wings of butter- 
flies ; 



His shield was the shell of a lady-bug 

queen. 
Studs of gold on a ground of green; 
And the quivering lance which he 

brandished bright, 
Was the sting of a wasp he had slain 

in fight* 
Swift he bestrode his fire-fly steed; 
He bared his blade of the bent-grass 

blue; 
He drove his spurs of the cockle seed, 
And away like a glance of thought 

he flew, 
To skim the heavens and follow far 
The fiery trail of the rocket-star* 




The moth-fly, as he shot in air, 
Crept under the leaf, and hid her there ; 
The katy-did forgot its lay, 
The prowling gnat fled fast away, 
The fell mosquito checked his drone, 
And folded his wings till the Fay was 

gone, 
And the wily beetle dropped his head, 
And fell on the ground as if he were 

dead; 
They crouched them close in the dark- 
some shade, 
They quaked all o'er with awe and 
fear, 
For they had felt the blue-bent blade, 
And writhed at the prick of the 
elfin spear ; 
Many a time, on a summer's night, 
When the sky was clear and the moon 

was bright, 
They had been roused from the haunt- 
ed ground 



# >'" 




By the yelp and bay of the fairy 

hound ; 
They had heard the tiny bugle-horn, 
They had heard the twang of the 

maize-silk string, 
When the vine-twig bows were tightly 

drawn, 
And the needle-shaft through air was 

borne, 
Feathered with down of the humbird's 

wing* 
And now they deemed the courier 

Ouphe, 
Some hunter-sprite of the elfin 

ground ; 
And they watched till they saw him 

mount the roof 
That canopies the world around ; 
Then glad they left their covert lair, 
And freaked about in the midnight air. 





IS 



Up to the vaulted firmament 
His path the fire-fly courser bent, 
And at every gallop on the wind, 
He flung a glittering spark behind; 
He flies like a feather in the blast 
Till the first light cloud in heaven 

past* 
But the shapes of air have begun their 

work, 
And a drizzly mist is round him cast, 
He cannot see through the mantle 

murk, 
He shivers with cold but he urges 

fast; 
Through storm and darkness, sleet 

and shade, 
He lashes his steed and spurs amain,- 
For shadowy hands have twitche 

the rein, — 








And flame-shot tongues around him 

played, 
And near him many a fiendish eye 
Glared with a fell malignity, 
And yells of rage, and shrieks of fear, 
Came screaming on his startled ear. 



His wings are wet around his breast, 

The plume hangs dripping from his 
crest, 

His eyes are blurred with the light- 
ning's glare, 

And his ears are stunned with the 
thunder's blare, 

But he gave a shout, and his blade he 
drew, 




He thrust before and he struck 
behind , 
Till he pierced their cloudy bodies 
through, 
And gashed their shadowy limbs of 
wind; 
Howling the misty spectres flew, 
They rend the air with frightful cries, 
For he has gained the welkin blue, 
And the land of clouds beneath him 
lies* 




Up to the cope careering swift, 

In breathless motion fast, 
Fleet as the swallow cuts the drift, 

Or the sea-roc rides the blast, 
The sapphire sheet of eve is shot, 

The sphered moon is past, 
The earth but seems a tiny blot 

On a sheet of azure cast* 
Oh ! it was sweet, in the clear moon- 
light, 

To tread the starry plain of even, 



To meet the thousand eyes of night, 
And feel the cooling breath of 
heaven ! 
But the elfin made no stop or stay 
Till he came to the bank of the milky- 
way, 
Then he checked his courser's foot, 
And watched for the glimpse of the 
planet-shoot* 




Sudden along the snowy tide 

That swelled to meet their footsteps' 
fall, 

The sylphs of heaven were seen to glide, 
Attired in sunset's crimson pall ; 

Around the Fay they weave the dance, 
They skip before him on the plain, 

And one has taken his wasp-sting lance, 








And one upholds his bridle-rein ; 
With warblings wild they lead him on 

To where, through clouds of amber 
seen, 
Studded with stars, resplendent shone 

The palace of the sylphid queen. 
Its spiral columns, gleaming bright, 
Were streamers of the northern light ; 
Its curtain's light and lovely flush 
Was of the morning's rosy blush ; 
And the ceiling fair that rose aboon, 
The white and feathery fleece of noon. 




But, Oh ! how fair the shape that lay 

Beneath a rainbow bending bright ; 
She seemed to the entranced Fay 

The loveliest of the forms of light ; 
Her mantle was the purple rolled 

At twilight in the west afar ; 
'T was tied with threads of dawning 
gold, 

And buttoned with a sparkling star. 
Her face was like the lily roon 

That veils the vestal planet's hue ; 
Her eyes, two beamlets from the moon, 

Set floating in the welkin blue* 
Her hair is like the sunny beam, 
And the diamond gems which round it 

gleam 
Are the pure drops of dewy even 
That ne'er have left their native 
heaven* 




She raised her eyes to the wandering 
sprite. 
And they leaped with smiles, for 
well I ween 
Never before in the bowers of light 
Had the form of an earthly Fay been 
seen* 
Long she looked in his tiny face ; 
Long with his butterfly cloak she 
played; 




She smoothed his wings of azure 
lace. 
And handled the tassel of his blade ; 
And as he told in accents low 
The story of his love and woe, 
She felt new pains in her bosom rise ; 
And the tear-drop started in her eyes* 
And "O sweet spirit of earth," she 
cried, 
" Return no more to your woodland 
height, 
But ever here with me abide 

In the land of everlasting light ! 
Within the fleecy drift we'll lie, 

We'll hang upon the rainbow's rim ; 
And all the jewels of the sky 

Around thy brow shall brightly 
beam ! 





And thou shalt bathe thee in the 
stream 
That rolls its whitening foam aboon, 
And ride upon the lightning's gleam, 
And dance upon the orbed moon ! 
Well sit within the Pleiad ring, 

We'll rest on Orion's starry belt, 
And I will bid my sylphs to sing 
The song that makes the dew-mist 
melt; 
Their harps are of the umber shade, 
That hides the blush of waking 
day, 
And every gleamy string is made 
Of silvery moonshine's lengthened 
ray; 
And thou shalt pillow on my breast, 
While heavenly breathings float 
around, 
And, with the sylphs of ether blest, 
Forget the joys of fairy ground/' 







'W« 






- 




She was lovely and fair to see, 
And the elfin's heart beat fitfully; 
But lovelier far and still more fair, 
The earthly form imprinted there ; 
Naught he saw in the heavens above 
Was half so dear as his mortal love, 
For he thought upon her looks so 

meek, 
And he thought of the light flush on 

her cheek ; 
Never again might he bask and lie 
On that sweet face and moonlight eye, 
But in his dreams her form to see, 
To clasp her in his revery, 
To think upon his virgin bride, 
Was worth all heaven, and earth beside* 




44 Lady," he cried, " I have sworn to- 
night, 
On the word of a fairy knight, 
To do my sentence-task aright ; 
My honor scarce is free from stain, 
I may not soil its snows again ; 
Betide me weal, betide me woe, 
Its mandate must be answered now/' 




Her bosom heaved with many a sigh, 
The tear was in her drooping eye ; 
But she led him to the palace gate, 
And called the sylphs who hovered 

there, 
And bade them fly and bring him 

straight 
Of clouds condensed a sable can 
With charm and spell she bless'd it 

there, 
From all the fiends of upper air ; 










Then round him cast the shadowy 

shroud, 
And tied his steed behind the cloud; 
And pressed his hand as she bade him 

fly 
Far to the verge of the northern sky, 
For by its wan and wavering light 
There was a star would fall to-night . 




Borne afar on the wings of the blast, 
Northward away he speeds him fast, 
And his courser follows the cloudy wain 
Till the hoof-strokes fall like pattering 

rain. 
The clouds roll backward as he flies, 
Each flickering star behind him lies, 
And he has reached the northern plain, 
And backed his fire-fly steed again, 
Ready to follow in its flight 
The streaming of the rocket-light. 




The star is yet in the vault of heaven, 

But it rocks in the summer gale ; 
And now f t is fitful and uneven, 

And now T t is deadly pale; 
And now 't is wrapped in sulphur 
smoke, 

And quenched is its rayless beam, 
And now with a rattling thunder-stroke 

It bursts in flash and flame. 
As swift as the glance of the arrowy 
lance 

That the storm-spirit flings from high, 
The star-shot flew o'er the welkin blue, 

As it fell from the sheeted sky. 
As swift as the wind in its trail behind 

The elfin gallops along, 




The fiends of the clouds are bellowing 
loud. 
But the sylphid charm is strong; 
He gallops unhurt in the shower of fire, 
While the cloud-fiends fly from the 
blaze, 
He watches each flake till its sparks 
expire, 
And rides in the light of its rays* 



But he drove his steed to the light- 
ning's speed, 
And caught a glimmering spark ; 
Then wheeled around to the fairy 
ground, 
And sped through the midnight 
dark. 




Ouphe and Goblin ! Imp and Sprite ! 

Elf of eve ! and starry Fay ! 
Ye that love the moon's soft light, 

Hither, hither wend your way ; 
Twine ye in a jocund ring, 

Sing and trip it merrily, 
Hand to hand, and wing to wing, 

Round the wild witch-hazel tree. 
Hail the wanderer again 

With dance and song, and lute and 
lyre, 
Pure his wing and strong his chain, 

And doubly bright his fairy fire. 
Twine ye in an airy round, 

Brush the dew and print the lea ; 
Skip and gambol, hop and bound, 

Round the wild witch-hazel tree. 

















The beetle guards our holy ground, 

He flies about the haunted place, 
And if mortal there be found, 

He hums in his ears and flaps his 
face; 
The leaf-harp sounds our roundelay, 

The owlet's eyes our lanterns be ; 
Thus we sing, and dance, and play, 

Round the wild witch-hazel tree* 



But, hark I from tower on tree-top high 

The sentry-elf his call has made : 
A streak is in the eastern sky, 

Shapes of moonlight ! flit and fade ! 
The hill-tops gleam in morning's 

spring, 
The skylark shakes his dappled wing, 
The day-glimpse glimmers on the 

lawn, 
The cock has crowed, and the Fays 

are gone* 





DEC 12 1903 



DE 



c. is v"i 




fCS r 



^ \ 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

HI 

018 597 082 6 



